Awards: EFA, S&S Poll, John Waters

The various film critic associations have begun handing out their top honors for the year with the New York critics set to announce their winners over the next hour or two. Meanwhile, over the weekend:

European Film AwardsMichael Haneke’s “Amour” swept the 25th European Film Awards in Malta. The film took four of the top honors including best picture, director, actor and actress.

Thomas Vinterberg’s “The Hunt” scored best script, Steve McQueen’s “Shame” won best editing and cinematography, and Tomas Alfredson’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” won best production design and score.

Sight and Sound PollUK magazine Sight & Sound have published their annual best films of the year poll made up of the opinions of around 100 film critics.

Also making the grade were “Berberian Sound Studio,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Beyond the Hills,” “Cosmopolis,” and “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”

John WatersFinally comes a man who is an award all by himself – the irrepressible John Waters. Always fun, always unpredictable, the filmmaker has been offering a top ten list every year for a long time and has just posted his up at Artforum.

Terence Davies’ “The Deep Blue Sea” was his #1 along with the comment “…you’ll wish you were suicidal over someone who didn’t love you back.” Two films in Ulrich Seidl’s “Paradise” trilogy, “Amour”, “Killer Joe,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Compliance,” “Marina AbramoviÄ‡: The Artist Is Present,” “Beloved” and “The Imposter” all made the grade. Click the link to see the amusing single line commentary that accompanied his choices.